A system of severe thunderstorms swept through Coweta County during the nighttime hours April 27. One of those storm systems tracking to the northeast out of the area of Heard and Troup counties entered Coweta near Grantville, apparently spawning a tornado. Unlike many areas in Georgia and the South that night the storm system spared Coweta from significant destruction.
“I think we dodged a big bullet compared to other places,” said Coweta County Emergency Management Agency Director Jay Jones.
Jones said what is thought to have been a tornado touched down in the Grantville area as the storm system made its way to the northeast from Troup and Heard counties, having hit in a very sparsely populated area. Jones said there were no initial reports of injuries or damage to homes anywhere in the county, though there were numerous power outages and localized flooding of some streets and roads for approximately one hour as the storm came through.
Jones said more than 20 reports of downed trees were received throughout the county. Corinth Road was closed Wednesday night from Bohannon Rd to the county line due to downed power lines, according to county spokesperson Patricia Palmer, who said that Smokey Road had been blocked with a downed tree for a short period of time.
In all, Jones said there were three tornado warnings issued that night and three severe thunderstorm warnings preceding them as the large line of storms entered west Georgia.
Across the state nearly a dozen people lost their lives in the mid-week series of storms. And across the South nearly 200 people died. The April 27 outbreak of tornados followed others across the Midwest in preceding days.
A fatality that was not related to the weather occurred in a wreck involving a utility pole on Andrew Bailey Road. An unnamed woman was in the vehicle and died later after being transported to Atlanta Regional Medical Center, Jones said.
